Nearly one year after students voiced political dissent at a speech given by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, the Orange County District Attorney has pressed 'conspiracy' charges against 11 of them. Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas issued a press release Feb. 4th outling the charges. The statement, titled 'OCDA CHARGES 11 MEN WITH CONSPIRACY TO DISRUPT A MEETING DURING SPEECH BY ISRAELI AMBASSADOR AT UCI' read in part,
'Each defendant is charged with one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to disturb a meeting and one misdemeanor count of the disturbance of a meeting. If convicted, they each face a sentence ranging from probation with community service and fines up to six months in jail...The defendants are: Mohamed Mohy-Eldeen Abdelgany, 23; Khalid Gahgat Akari, 19; Aslam Abbasi Akhtar, 23; Joseph Tamim Haider, 23; Taher Mutaz Herzallah, 21; Hakim Nasreddine Kebir, 20; Shaheen Waleed Nassar, 21; Mohammad Uns Qureashi, 19; Ali Mohammad Sayeed, 23; Osama Ahmen Shabaik, 22; and Asaad Mohamedidris Traina, 19. This case is being filed because there was an organized attempt to squelch the speaker, who was invited to speak to a group at UCI.
These defendants meant to stop this speech and stop anyone else from hearing his ideas, and they did so by disrupting a lawful meeting. This is a clear violation of the law and failing to bring charges against this conduct would amount to a failure to uphold the Constitution,” stated District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. ...The U.S. Supreme Court has found that the relationships and associations of the parties involved may be religious, and if a relevant circumstance to the existence of a conspiracy, are not barred from admission by constitutional provisions guaranteeing freedom of religion...The conspiracy charge could be filed as a felony. After taking into consideration all of the facts and circumstances of this case, the OCDA has exercised its discretion to file this count as a misdemeanor.'
Those being charged shouted lines such as "“Michael Oren, propagating murder is not an expression of free speech,” “You sir are an accomplice to genocide,” and “It’s a shame this University has sponsored a mass murderer like yourself.” The D.A. included these and other content of their speech when announcing the criminal charges.
The eleven have a scheduled arraignment March 11th. On December 9th, Rackauckas charged 19 other students with misdemeanor charges . Describing 'students and sympathizers for being disorderly.... (article continues here